abstraction
n.an idea or quality that is not a physical thing. You use this word when talking about concepts like love, justice, or time instead of objects you can touch. In computing, an abstraction is a simplified version of a complex system that lets you focus on what it does rather than how it works.
n.the quality of dealing with ideas rather than events; a concept that is not physical or concrete. Often used in academic or technical contexts to describe theoretical frameworks. In software engineering, abstraction involves hiding complex implementation details behind a simpler interface to reduce complexity and improve design.
“Love is an abstraction, not a physical object.”
“The professor explained that democracy is a complex abstraction.”
“Modern art often relies on abstraction to convey emotion without realistic detail.”
“Grace Kimani, a patrol leader with Lake Naivasha and Oloiden, told Al Jazeera that the reservoir is under growing pressure from population growth, agriculture, water abstraction, climate variability, pollution and ecosystem degradation.”
“Since the genetic code provides a layer of abstraction between DNA and proteins, it wasn’t obvious what a model trained on DNA could do.”
From Middle English abstraccyone; either from Middle French abstraction or from Medieval Latin abstrāctiō (“separation”), from Latin abstrahō (“draw away”). Equivalent to abstract + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.